Top 100: The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971)
"Don't jerk me, Weinstock"
Friedkin's gritty cinema-verité cop drama from 1971 is still a masterful effort, due in part to many things: A fantastic story (and a true one at that!), a superb cast, top-notch cinemagaraphy by Owen Roizman, a great score by Don Ellis, and of course, great direction by Friedkin. Taking to the streets of New York armed with a camera was an insipred way of telling this story. The gritty streets of New York also play a major role in the film. Beautifully bleak, just like Wolfen.
There's a major Heroin deal about to go down in New York. Word on the street is that it's a big one, and everyone's gonna get rich. Tough cops 'Popeye' Doyle & Russo are on the case, tailing local hoods and French businessmen around NYC in order to catch them in the act.
Gene Hackman as Doyle & Roy Scheider as Russo are a fantastic partnership. It's clear they got along very well, and I've never seen either of them any better (granted, Scheider was fantastic in Jaws), especially Hackman, who really toughens up for the role. He's mean!
One of the most memorable scenes in the film is the cat-and-mouse game between Doyle & "Frog One" (Fernando Rey), which eventually ends up in a Subway station (which also happened in reality). Great use of sound during this scene as well. This was the scene that inspired the greatest TV show ever made, The Sweeney!
The French Connection also has a very famous car chase scene... Much imitated, but never bettered! Speaking of which, The Seven-Ups is a weak copycat of The French Connection (made by the same producers and starring Scheider, no less!), and was followed by a gritty sequel -HEY!- The French Connection 2! Which feature s a tour-de-force performance by Hackman, reprising his role as Doyle.
The French Connection plays nowadays like a thrilling document of 1970s American cinema, which it indeed is! It's aged extremely well, and can rightfully be considered a true classic.
